While Tom Brady’s retirement may disappoint some San Francisco 49ers and Las Vegas Raiders fans that were hopeful their teams would sign him this offseason, some new reports give the impression that was never an option for the 15-time Pro Bowler.
Brady surprised the sports world on Wednesday morning when he posted a video to his social media accounts that revealed he was bringing his incomparable NFL career to an end after 23 seasons. The decision wasn’t shocking for a 45-year-old professional athlete, but still surprising for several reasons.
The first is, despite a decline in certain key stats this season, Brady was still a high-level player at arguably the most important position in sports. Furthermore, several notable franchises were linked to potential pursuits of his services in the offseason, including the 49ers and Raiders.
However, following the Brady news, ESPN NFL insider Jeff Darlington reported that despite a disappointing 8-9 finish for the Buccaneers in 2022-23, his plans for next season boiled down to staying in Tampa for a fourth year or retiring. Testing his value on the NFL free agent market was not a serious consideration.
The Raiders are on the market for a new quarterback after bringing an end to the Derek Carr era with two weeks left in this season. The 49ers became an even bigger player in the Brady market after it was revealed that young star QB Brock Purdy tore his UCL in the NFC Championship Game and would be sidelined for the next six months.
While both franchises would certainly have a strong appeal for Brady, it seems that the end of his marriage recently, and both those teams’ locations made them very unlikely destinations as ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter explained Wednesday morning.
“He’s been a part of the NFL for half his life, and now he’s a single dad who’s focused on being there for his children at a focal point in their lives. They’re on the east coast, so as much as everybody could say, ‘Boy, Tom Brady should go back to San Francisco and replace Brock Purdy. Tom Brady should go to Las Vegas and rejoin Josh McDaniels.’ As much as those scenarios from a football sense, make sense, they do not make sense in the life that Tom Brady needs to, and wants to live as a single father.”
Brady is a native of San Mateo, California which is a 40-minute drive from San Francisco. He also was coached by Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels for 13 seasons in New England.
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